Friday, February 25, 2011

I'm especially excited to share this Process Video with you! For a while now, I've been admiring artists' process videos (like this one from Chris Piascik or this one from Robert Josiah Bingaman).

I wanted to create one just like theirs, and show how I write poems (because I always want to know how other writers create). So while writing "Dissonance," I recorded my desktop (using Quicktime--surprisingly easy). It was easy to forget that it was recording--this video represents an extremely typical way that I write. When I sat down to write, the only thing I knew was that I wanted to use artist Toc Fetch's work, which I had bookmarked earlier, as I usually do.

It took 50 minutes and 4 seconds to write this poem, and this video shows the process condensed to about 5 minutes. It was a struggle to upload this video successfully (it turned out very blurry in YouTube, every way that I tried), but in Vimeo it turned out a bit more clearly. The words are still not extremely clear (next time I do this, I'll use a larger font). It was strange to watch this video---maybe the pacing surprised me a little. You may wish to view it full screen to get that whole "I'm Hannah typing frenetically away at her computer" experience (for best results, have coffee nearby, and a cat on your lap).

I'd love to hear your thoughts on process--is this how you work, too? Do you type or write longhand? Do you listen to music (you saw me on Grooveshark and iTunes--at the end of the video, I list the artists I was listening to). It feels a bit like I'm inviting you into my brain...welcome! Come on in.

Friday, February 18, 2011

My video this week is for yesterday's poem, "In Sink." Once I starting punning, I couldn't stop (my apologies). But I do think it is fascinating that describing love involves language of earth-shifting, astronomical proportions. Have a lava-ly weekend, and hope you enjoy the video (and my laundry, and my umbrella).

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

On flags. Hoisted above homes,a country’s bar code. Shuttersand venetian blinds, light blazingfrom between the slats and thendiminishing. A heating ventthat we stand over in the winter,instep eased over the metal.Worn near the face to signify rankand response. Button downs andt-shirts, ties and ribbon, suggestionof warfare and ease and sport,of youth. Plowed fields viewedfrom overhead, a carpet streakedfrom the vacuum’s grasp, onedirection and then the other.Saturated life spliced with absence,an order we impose and labelas playful. Background muddledwith applied design, alternatingso that we cannot sort whichcolor and texture was there first,a pattern not organic, but pleasing.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

I could care less,I could,but instead, I careso much,so phenomenally.It happenswhen we look, thismountainrange-sized adorationwelling upinside us in responseto all thatis present alongsideus, and allthat existed beforethe humanthumb squeezedthe top ofthe common era’sstopwatch.The seven holes in ourheads helpus to take in what wecan of theever-altering wildernesshere for us,with us. How is this notcollaboration.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Get your bearings here,select them from this bin,little and silver. Confronttheir smallness. Roll themaround in your hand, cold,molecular. Hardware iseverywhere, tucked asunobtrusively in jointsas grammar in your mothertongue. Get your bearings,no, not those, those arespoken for. By me. Mybearings won’t be muchhelp to you. What are youattracted to here, in parts,I mean, what gets your gearsspinning. Would you lookat your reflection in these,have you ever seen yourselflook more capable or radiant.